You're Out, Daddy novel (Natasha and Kenneth)

"I just went in to check the situation, and it's pretty much as what we analyzed. There are four of them and three rooms inside, but there's no sign of Lina. If my guess is correct, she should be in the innermost room because only the door to that room can be locked from the outside. As for whether there's anyone in the other room, I'm not so sure. Based on my years of experience, that other room must be where they'd be resting. For now, all four of them should be in the living room."

Hearing that, Anthony nodded thoughtfully. "It seems that the situation's not much different from what we predicted. Even if there are discrepancies, they'll only have, at the very most, two more people on their side."

Thalia bobbed her head solemnly. "Agreed!"

All of a sudden, a thought popped into Anthony's head. Quick as a wink, he sought Thalia's view. "What do you think about the combat prowess of those people?"

A chuckle came from Thalia. "It's hard to tell, but they're all involved in petty theft and shady jobs. Most probably, they can't hold a candle to those professionals. Even if there are one or two exceptions, it'll be a piece of cake."

Upon hearing the phrase "petty theft and shady jobs," Anthony shifted his gaze instinctively toward Magus. The latter quickly caught on and opined, "Don't mind me. Thalia's right. This kind of sneaky business can never see the light of day."

Anthony raised his eyebrows. "It's all good if you can understand."

"That said..." At this moment, Magus suddenly spoke up with his gaze fixed on Thalia. "There's one thing you said that's not quite right."

"What's that?" questioned Thalia.

"Among those four people, each has their own strengths, but two of them surely knew a thing or two about combat arts. They are there to fight off threats should there be any unexpected incident. That's why we ought to not underestimate their abilities," pronounced Magus.

That made Anthony intercept the conversation. "May I ask what kind of people were you scouting out before?”

After pondering for a moment, Magus shook his head. "These people were all brought together by him alone, and as I said, each of them has their own strengths. All we needed to do was follow his plan, so we didn't get to know much about one another's backgrounds. He's always been the one who has all the details about us."

Anthony knitted his brows at that. "But isn't it common for such operations to involve only people who are most familiar with each other? That way, there can be a certain level of tacit understanding, allowing them to quickly weigh the pros and cons if any issues arise during the operation. If it's as you say, though, that means every one of them has their very own ulterior motives, and the chances of the operation failing would be quite high."

Even when listening to what the boy was saying, Magus remained indifferent, his visage unchanging. He simply recounted in a calm tone, "He's the driving force behind everything, having arranged in advance what each person should do at each point. So, all we need to do is carry out our part of the job to get our share of the money. We don't have to worry about anything else."

Anthony's eyes shone with utter astonishment. From his perspective, if that was the fact, Lindon must be a talented individual to be able to assemble a group of strangers and have them collaborate with each other so well, not to mention achieve such a high success rate. He had to have what it took to pull that off.

"So, what happened to you back then?" Thalia threw Magus a question out of the blue.

Speaking of which, Magus' mien darkened.

Somehow, Anthony could sense the man's emotions, thus breaking the silence. "We only want to understand the situation more. If you're not willing to talk about it, we'll—"

"There's nothing I'm unwilling to share!" interrupted Magus. "It's just that those past memories constantly remind me of how foolish I was back then!"

Noticing how worked up that man was, both Anthony and Thalia kept their lips buttoned.

Then, Magus continued, "During that operation years ago, one of the guys he had arranged for encountered an unexpected issue. However, the matter was urgent and had to be dealt with. So, that year, I joined him in the operation. We disguised ourselves as the people who were supposed to pick up the goods. Just as we successfully obtained the items and were about to leave, somehow, those people received information that we were impostors. In the midst of the chaos, Lindon pointed his gun directly at me..."

When he reached that part of the story, his countenance changed. He even scrunched his fingers into angry cannonballs.

Sensing his fury, Anthony spoke up. "When you were put on trial later, did you not rat him out because of Lina?"

The only thing Magus did was raise his chin and eye them. "After I was detained, he did come to see me, claiming that he had no choice but to do what he did at that time. Yet, he promised to take good care of Lina... Never in my wildest dreams would I imagine that his so-called 'good care' would turn out to be in such a manner..."

"He was already shameless back then, and you still believe him?" Thalia could hardly believe it.

Magus looked up, his eyes inundated with hatred and mixed emotions. "When I was left with nothing, lost, and directionless, it was he who gave me a hand. I truly treated him like family. Even when he betrayed me, I just wanted to know why... I never guessed that he wasn't only shameless, but he was beyond unscrupulous!"

Anthony and Thalia exchanged glances.

Through Magus' words, one could feel that the man was a sincere person, and he would be willing to give his all to anyone regardless of who they were. Unfortunately, he just happened to stumble upon the wrong guy.

Anthony looked at Magus. "Have you ever thought that from the very beginning, Magus, you were but a part of his master plan?"

"What do you mean?" A furrow creased Magus' forehead.

"I mean, what you call brotherhood is nothing but a premeditated plan in his eyes. You've been a pawn that he could discard at any time in his scheme," elaborated Anthony.

Magus was taken aback abruptly upon hearing that.

Rather than being unable to accept the cold, hard truth, what he found even more unbearable was his own ignorance and gullibility.

He looked up and met the gaze of the pair in front of him. Their eyes seemed to be staring right into his soul with unwavering certainty as if what the boy brought to the table was an undeniable fact. "N-No, that can't be..." Magus shook his head in denial.

"Of course, Magus, we should never harbor ill intentions toward others, but we must at least always be on our guard. If you refuse to cooperate with anyone else because of this setback, I don't think it's a form of self-protection. On the contrary, I think you're just afraid. You're afraid of being hurt the same way again, so you use this method to eliminate all possibilities." Anthony emphasized each word.

Magus clenched his fist. His lips twitched, appearing to have something to refute. Still, not a single sound came from him.

At that crucial moment, Thalia changed the subject. "That's enough. Let's talk about what we should do next!"

Anthony averted his gaze from Magus and turned to Thalia. "All right. Let's discuss our next move. If, as Magus said, those two are professionals, do you think you can handle them?"

Thalia's mind wandered for a fleeting moment. "Even if they were professionals, there would be top-level and entry-level to be taken into account. I think Lindon's main purpose is to ward off any opposing forces, so much so that he'd be ready to sacrifice one of his pawns should things go south. With that in mind, he probably won't hire anyone decent enough, so it should be fine."

Anthony took a moment to ponder before nodding in approval. "If it were just you, I wouldn't be worried. You'd have what it takes to make a getaway no matter the circumstance. Then again, there's Lina... You haven't fought them before, so I'm a bit concerned, to be honest. Maybe I'll ask Miguel to aid you as well. It's just that Magus would've himself to rely on and square up to his part of the mission."